Advancing with the Army

Medicine, the Professions and Social Mobility in the British Isles 1790-1850

Description

Providing the first ever statistical study of a professional cohort in the era of the industrial revolution, this prosopographical study of some 450 surgeons who joined the army medical service during the Revolutionary and Napoleonic wars, charts the background, education, military and civilian career, marriage, sons' occupations, wealth at death, and broader social and cultural interests of the members of the cohort. It reveals the role that could be played by the nascent professions in this period in promoting rapid social mobility.

The group of medical practitioners selected for this analysis did not come from affluent or professional families but profited from their years in the army to build up a solid and sometimes spectacular fortune, marry into the professions, and place their sons in professional careers. The study contributes to our understanding of Britishness in the period, since the majority of the cohort came from small-town and rural Scotland and Ireland but seldom found their wives in the native country and frequently settled in London and other English cities, where they often became pillars of the community.

Advancing with the Army

Medicine, the Professions and Social Mobility in the British Isles 1790-1850

Table of Contents

Introduction: The French Wars, Industrialisation and the Professions 1: Army medical service 2: Background 3: Education 4: Army Careers 5: Professional Life Outside the Service 6: Fortunes and Families 7: Enquiring Minds 8: Reflection

Advancing with the Army

Medicine, the Professions and Social Mobility in the British Isles 1790-1850

Author Information

Marcus Ackroyd, Freelance Researcher, Laurence Brockliss, Tutor in History, Magdalen College Oxford, Michael Moss, Professor of History, University of Glasgow, Kate Retford, Lecturer in History of Art, Birkbeck, University of London, and John Stevenson, Reader in Modern History, Worcester College Oxford

Advancing with the Army

Medicine, the Professions and Social Mobility in the British Isles 1790-1850